Improvement in closing gas-retorts



N. JAM'IN.: cnos'nrcms` ILE-Toms.

'raum-a Feb.v zz, 187e.

.PETERS. FHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON. DAC,

NITED STATES PATENT NiooLAUs JAMIE, or NEW YORK, N. `Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN cLoslNGGAs-RETORTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 173,959,dated'rFebruary 22, 1876; application filed July 16, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NrconAUs JAMIN, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented certain Improvements in Lids for Gas-ltetorts,of which the following is a specication: t

The object of this invention is to provide for the sure closing of themouths of coal-gas retorts without the usual luting with loam, andbymeans capable of easy and convenient manipulation.

The invention consists in the combination of a hinged lid, provided atits circumferential portion with alternate grooves and ribs, with aretort having its mouth provided with coincident grooves and ribs insuch manner that when the lid is closed to its place the ribs of the onewill iit into the grooves of the other, and when coated with Vthe tarnaturally deposited therein during the normal use of the retort willeectually close the same against the escape of gas, provided the lid beproperly held home to its place.

Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of a retort-lid made accordingto my invention, and applied to the suitable constructed mouth of aretort. Fig. 2 isa front view of the same as made according to onemodification of my invention, and Fig. 3 is alike view, showing anothermodification of the same.

A is the mouth of the retort, made of metal l in the usual manner, butcast or` formed -at its front or face with alternate grooves a and ribsb, the same extending circumferentially in an endless series having aconfiguration corresponding to the circumferential form of the mouth ofthe retort. The lid B is hinged at one side of the mouth A by ears c,which fit between similar ears f provided on the mouth A aforesaid, avertical pin, g, connecting the Whole and forming the pivot of thehinged lid B aforesaid. The circumferential portion of the inner surfaceof the lid B is formed withl a series of alternate grooves and ribs, a'b', so arranged that when the lid is shut to its place the grooves andribs of the one will coincide with the ribs and grooves of the other, soas to form, as it were, an interlocking joint between them, the largerinnermost rib c on the lid especially shut- .mouth A, so that anydeposit of tar which may occur at the mouth of the retort'in the normaluse thereof will be more "or less upon this rib c and the immediatelyadjoining inner rib of the mouth A, and will thereby close the jointbetween the two, the viscid consistency' of the tar sealing the jointagainst the egress ot' the gas through the joint, which egress orleakage of gas during the distilling process is ordinarily a source ofmaterial loss. 'lo secure this result from the lid and mouth,constructed and combined as described, the lid must be' forced snuglyhom-e to its place and firmly retained there. To provide for this thecotter-bar (l is loosely pivoted at one end to the pin p, and itsopposite end is lfitted and arranged to pass into or behind a staticnarylug or latch, m, provided at the outerv lateral edge of the mouth A. Atits center this hinged Cotter-bar carries the screw 1^, provided at itsouter extremity with a suitable cross-handle, r', the nut of the screw rbeing provided in the center of the cotterbar aforesaid. When theCotter-bar is fitted behind or into the xed latch m it simply holds thelid snugly to its place, as is desir- -able preliminary to the finaltightening to a gas-tight closeness, as hereinbefore set forth.

To secure this tightness the screw r' is turned in the requisitedirection, and the cotter-bar being held at one end by the latch m, andat the other by the pin p, affords' hold or resistance to the screw r,to enable the latter to bring the lid to its place upon the mouth with'any degree of force or resultant tightness.

As a modication of the devices just hereinbefore particularly described,arrangement shown in Fig. 2 may bel used. In this the cotter-bar C ispivoted at its center to the lid B by the screw r in y such wise thatwhen the lid is swung inward to its place and the cotter-bar is turnedto a horizontal position one end thereof will swing downward into orbehind a fixed latch, u, on one side of the mouth A, and the otherupward under a similar but inverted latch, n', at the opposite side,whereupon the screw, being turned Vin the requisite direction, tightensthe lid to its place in substantially the same manner as hereinbeforepreviously set forth.

When desired,the fixed la-tch and the hinge face of the lid, so as tocondense and collect 472 maybe interchzm ged to reverse the directionthe tar, thereby sealing the joint Without the in which the lid may beswung, and to meet necessity of using luting or packing, substanenyparticular emergency. l tially es set forth.

What I claim as my invention if- The method herein deeeribed fer eleeiugNICOLAUS JAMIN gas retorts, consisting in forming in the Witnesses:month-piece a series of concentric grooves JAMES A. WHITNEY,

and ridges, and a corresponding series in the WM. B. PHAIR.

